To be a Swordsman
by LoveDragonsForever
Summary: Zoro was lost. Except this time it wasn't his fault. No, it was the fault of the old, bespectacled wizard who somehow magicked both him and his Shichibukai teacher to this strange castle place... and insisted on calling Dracule Mihawk "Harry Potter" for some strange reason that Zoro didn't understand...
1. Rituals

_**This is so late, isn't it... Sorry. For a while I was waiting for a potential beta to respond, and then they didn't, so I'm just posting this.**_

_**Anyway...**_

_**Welcome to the redone version of Two Years! This story is only loosely based on that—lots of things that were in the old one have been taken out, and some new things have been added. **_

_**Also, I am looking for a beta who is willing to not only criticize grammar, spelling, and awkward phrasing, but also my characters and plot. If you are interested, please PM me or leave a review saying that you are. **_

_**Enjoy the story~!**_

_**Far before present time**_

Harry's eyes widened in shock and he started struggling, trying to break free of the ritual's effects. All around him, green mist drifted upwards gently from marked runes on the floor. He had done it in the Room of Requirement, of course, although it could not necessarily be stated that "he" had done it.

Outside of the glowing green misty wall, he could see Ron and Hermione hurrying towards him, looking confused but knowing instinctively that something was wrong. They gave each other panicked looks before Ron rushed forwards and Hermione pulled out her wand.

_No! I don't want this! _He screamed inside his head, wishing that the ritual magic would obey him, but knowing that it had already been set in motion by his hand. _No. Not mine. Voldemort's. _

His scar was burning terribly, Harry realized. Somehow he hadn't noticed the pain before. He struggled to block out the horrible laughter resounding in his ears, the evidence of Voldemort's glee.

_I didn't even notice it was him! Even though I could break the Imperius last year... I couldn't break free of his influence! I didn't even know he was there! How could I be so _stupid?!

Ron and Hermione were fading now, Harry realized. All that he could see was the green mist that grew ever thicker around him. "No!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

He could barely see the dim shape of Ron trying to break apart the outer misty wall with his bare fists. Hermione snapped something at him, and both of them backed up and started hurling spells at the it, doing their best to break free.

"It's too late," Harry whispered, even knowing that his friends could not hear him. "You can't break rituals like that." _Hermione knows that. She's only trying because she'll feel horrible if she doesn't do something. _

He kept struggling against the mist, though, because even though he knew it was futile, it felt better than just doing nothing. He happened to look down at his hand and gasped; even it was becoming immaterial. He could see the floor through it, and as he looked out at his friends, he realized that he could see the wall behind them.

For a moment he thought he caught a glimpse of the sea, and smelled salty brine, heard the cawing of seagulls. Then it was gone, for a moment, and all he could see was the green mist, and all he heard was the soft whisperings of the mist as it swirled around him, imprisoning him and transporting him away from this world.

Before long, the mist surrounded him completely, and the last thing Harry saw was other people bursting in the room and joining the effort to break the walls. Then everything was the mist, soft, gentle, surrounding him, encompassing him almost like a good blanket.

Suddenly, the mist started fading. When it was gone completely, Harry saw that he was on a tiny island, no more than a spur of rock, really. Seagulls cawed around him; the rock was dotted with nests and bird droppings. Off in the distance, across the calm, blue sea, he could see the shape of land.

_I never was a good swimmer... _Harry thought. _Never was able to get the hang of it, it always seemed as though the water _wanted _me to drown. Well, now I suppose it's swim or die._

_**Present time**_

Dracule Mihawk, the Greatest Swordsman in the World, sat bolt upright, breathing hard, barely stifling a cry from breaking free from his lips. He took a moment to slow his breathing, reassure himself that everything was the same as it usually was, which was to say, annoying him, and spared a moment to think bitterly about the nightmares that _still _occasionally plagued him after nearly three decades. But he was not one to dwell long on such thoughts, so he quickly erased those thoughts from his mind and looked out the nearby window.

The sun was just barely starting to rise, turning the mist of Kuraigana Island a soft orange. Another person would have thought it was pretty, even beautiful. Mihawk dismissed it as a normal thing that happened every morning. It was amazing what you could get used to, given enough time.

Having decided that he may as well get up, as it was nearly morning anyway, Mihawk rose, got dresssed, slung Yoru onto his back, and paused for a moment, looking at the one remaining sword in the room. It was a new one, that he had only recently picked up at the nearby Ivory Island when he noticed that its seller was going to throw it away. The slim katana leaned against the wall, appearing to defy gravity, as it really _should _have fallen due to its position. Mihawk stared at it for a moment before picking it up and frowning.

He'd never been one to keep swords on his hip, like so many other swordsmen did. It seemed... disrespectful... to the blades, somehow. He knew, of course, that most of them were completely fine with it, but, well, he had to keep _some _morals or else he would become as corrupt as a Tenryubito.

After a moment's thought, Mihawk pulled open a nearby drawer and pulled out some strips of leather. Soon, he had jury-rigged a quick harness for the sword, which still didn't have a name. After a bit of difficulty, he managed to attach it to his cloak (which was already fairly weighted down at his back by various things that he kept in it) and slung the sword into it so that way it was across his back at a diagonal. It felt somewhat odd, but he supposed he would get used to it soon enough, and he rather suspected that if he had to resort to fighting Roronoa himself, then he would need it.

Mihawk glanced into the tall, floor-to-ceiling mirror in the corner before composing his face to blankness and striding out of the room.

_**Zoro**_

When Zoro woke up, the first thing he noticed was the light orange-red mist outside his window. And the fact that he was in a room, that too. The last thing he remembered was one of those damned Humandrills hitting him a glancing blow on the head with some sort of hammer. Needless to say, that had knocked him out. _But how did I get back here? I snuck out to fight them in the middle of the night... _

Zoro shrugged, decided not to question it, and got up, once again glancing at the mist. He was rather surprised that, not only had he been allowed to sleep this long, but also that the mist was staying around. He had arrived here in the night, after all, and had been stuck indoors for the rest of the time he had been here.

He stared at for a moment longer, then dismissed it, deciding that he may as well get out of bed and get some training done. As he got up, he winced slightly at small jolts of pain that shot through his body from his various injuries. _They'll be fine, right? Yeah. They always are. I might actually be able to get through a session uninterrupted without Chopper about!_

The thought saddened him, as he remembered Chopper and suddenly wished, more than anything, that he was back with his nakama. But, well, Luffy had said that they needed to train, so... train he would. That didn't stop him from missing his goofy captain.

After a few minutes of recollection, Zoro sighed quietly to himself, got up, and slid his swords through his haramaki before opening the door and heading into the corridor outside. Doors lined the sides, although they had no markings or any way to identify what was in them. The corridor itself was made out of a featureless gray stone, much like the rest of the place. The walls were bare of any decoration at all, not even being lined with torches.

Zoro frowned slightly as he tried to remember the layout of the place. He thought that he had a pretty good idea of which way was north, and which was south.

_I'm on the second floor or something, right? So I should try and go south._

Zoro shrugged and headed off down the corridor. Soon, he came to a fork and took the east path. Before long, he found a stone staircase leading down. _Well, that's where I want to go, right. _

He walked down the stone steps, his footsteps echoing slightly in the darkness. It seemed to go on for an eternity, the air getting noticeably colder as he descended. Once or twice, he could have sworn that he heard odd whispering sounds.

At the bottom, it was quite dark but there was still enough light for him to see what he needed to. He couldn't quite figure out where the lighting was coming from, at first, but then saw that there was some kind of luminous gray moss growing in cracks on the walls. He walked up to one patch and touched it curiously with his fingers. Its light shivered a little bit, but stayed steady.

Zoro shrugged and continued on his way. This corridor, unlike the others, did not appear to have any doors lining it. All it was was stone, stone, and more stone. And moss.

After perhaps half an hour of walking, he came to the end of the hallway. It just ended, not even having a door there. Just more blank stone, like the rest of it. He paused to rest, leaning on the stone wall. His wounds really were starting to trouble him, sending stronger stabs of pain at him now. It was nothing he hadn't felt before, of course, so he ignored it easily.

Five minutes later, he started to retrace his path, but tripped on a rock. He managed to catch himself by quickly putting his arms in front of him. He glanced at the thing that had tripped him, and saw that it was in fact a clump of dead moss. It no longer glowed, unlike its living counterparts.

Zoro gave it a half-hearted glare (even he knew there was no point in getting mad at a piece of moss), and got up. And stared.

Where there had been blank stone wall before, there was now a long, wide room. The walls were covered with the glowing moss, so much of it that the lighting was actually pretty good. Around the room were various objects. He took a step forwards, into the room, so as to see them better.

The closest thing was a table, made out of a heavy oak. On it perched a perfect, although small, statue of some kind of bird of prey taking flight. He stared at it for a moment before realizing that it was a hawk.

Hung on the wall behind the table was a large black pirate flag, the skull's eyes narrowed birds eyes, with crossed feathers instead of bones. _I don't recognize the mark, _he thought. _Robin probably would, though._

Thinking of Robin brought another pang of loneliness, so he quickly pushed that thought aside and started walking around the walls, looking curiously at each object.

A silvery cloak hung from a peg next to the table. Zoro reached out and touched it. It felt strangely soft, almost like silk. _Weird, _Zoro thought, and moved on.

Ofthe other objects that he saw, not many made much sense to him. A chip of stone, several feathers in different bright colors, a lump of gray rock. A large broadsword, perhaps seven feet in length. A battered old book that contained beautiful drawings of the sky, the ocean, and various animals. There was a skull of some strange creature with a rack of horns and fangs. There was a velvet box that contained nothing but a small handful of yellow dust.

Zoro was looking at the next item, a slender wooden box, when he heard a soft cough behind him. He spun around to meet the golden eyes of Mihawk. The Shichibukai didn't say anything, but Zoro somehow got the idea that he was, while not _angry, _particularly irritated.

"What exactly are you doing here."

It was not a question, exactly. Or rather, it was, but it didn't have that usual going up in pitch at the end like questions usually did.

Zoro gulped, tried to think of an answer, and failed miserably. Caught in that golden gaze, all he could think of was a weak, "I got lost?"

Golden eyes narrowed, and in that moment Zoro understood why Mihawk was called Hawk-Eyes. In that moment, he felt like a mouse being stared at by a particularly fierce bird.

"I see," the Shichibukai said flatly. "In that case, kindly do not get lost again."

Zoro blinked, recognized it as the dismissal it was, and almost ran from the room, feeling the other swordsman's eyes on him the whole time.

_**Mihawk**_

Mihawk watched Roronoa go, and seemed to sigh quietly to himself before looking around the room. He wasn't truly angry, not really, in fact he felt now that he should have expected this. After he felt Zoro's presence move away, up the stairs, he crossed the room and let his fingers lightly stroke Haridin's sheath. The broadsword wasn't awake yet, at least not compared to Yoru—Mihawk had bought him brand-new, and hadn't used him enough for him to develop a personality—but there was something about being with it that comforted Mihawk. A comfort that, although he would never admit it to anyone, he felt that he sorely needed at the moment.

The nightmare was staying with him, instead of fading as they usually did, and it was nice to be with an old nakama again.

After several minutes of this, the Shichibukai turned around, looked about the room one last time, his gaze lingering on the various objects he had collected in his travels, and, then headed out of it, making sure to close the stone door behind him.

Mihawk located Roronoa in the kitchen, apparently trying to make himself food, searched for Perona, found her upstairs somewhere, and headed out the main doors, walking out into what passed for sunshine on Kuraigana. He paused for a moment, feeling the cool mist on his skin, before walking into the forest and quickly scaling a tree. Once he was up in its sheltering branches, he pulled Yoru off his back and held the naked blade across his lap.

He closed his eyes and leaned back until he was in a fairly comfortable position, before expanding his awareness as much as he could, until he could feel everything going on throughout most of the island.

He was sinking off into a (somewhat) relaxing sleep when he felt something _wrong _coalescing somewhere near the mansion. His eyes snapped open, staring directly at it, although of course it was too far away for him to see anything.

He hesitated merely a moment before leaping lightly out of the tree, sheathing Yoru, and running off towards the castle.

_**Zoro**_

Zoro had quickly eaten whatever it was he'd made (he couldn't remember now) and then went off to find some Humandrills to fight. It didn't take long before he was surrounded by the weaker ones, and within moments they were fighting.

However, halfway through the combat, they all looked up as one, and fled. Zoro looked around, half-expecting Mihawk to jump out at him (that's why they had ran away the _last _time, after all), but nothing happened.

Zoro frowned, wondering what was going on. He sat down on a nearby boulder protruding from the ground and looked around some more, his gaze lingering on every rock and tree and bush. He could see nothing that could have frightened them away, although with the orange-yellow mist floating around him, visibility wasn't too good.

He heard footsteps coming from behind him, and turned around, half-expecting it to be one of the Humandrills coming back. It wasn't, rather it was Dracule Mihawk. The Shichibukai was looking around as he approached, and Zoro noticed that he had Yoru unsheathed.

The other swordsman said nothing, so Zoro didn't either. They simply stood there in silence. After a long pause, Mihawk suddenly flicked his blade slightly. Zoro jumped as a small green arc cut through the air, almost too fast to see, and hit _something _that was only a foot or two in front of them.

The Shichibukai's eyes narrowed further, and he backed up a step, flicking another green air blade at whatever it was. This time when it impacted, it was about a step closer to Mihawk. Zoro backed away from it hastily, whatever it was, it couldn't be good.

"Roronoa," the other swordsman said quietly. "I suggest that you run."

"What?" Zoro asked, shocked.

"Need I repeat myself?" Mihawk asked. Zoro blinked at him, then at the invisible _thing, _whatever it was. He remembered that tiger guy on Thriller Bark who had been able to go invisible, and wondered briefly if it was something like that, before dismissing it and deciding that that was stupid. There could only be one Devil Fruit user of a certain type in the world, and the tiger guy probably wasn't dead.

A moment later, though, it no longer became important what the invisible thing was, because it exploded in a silent wash of completely white light. The last thing Zoro saw before everything went white was the slightly shocked look on Mihawk's face.

_**All reviews are welcome! :)**_


	2. Arguments

**_Sorry about the long pause in updates... it's probably going to happen again... so assume that this story isn't dead unless I post something specifically saying that it's dead. _**

**_Apologies aside, thank you to all of you who reviewed/favorited/followed this story! That really means a lot to me! Reviews are, of course, equally welcome on this chapter, too. _**

When Zoro awoke, the first thing he noticed was how the air felt. It was most definitely different from Kuraigana, and before long he identified the reason why: there was no feeling of mist.

That made him sit up suddenly, spitting out some dirt that had somehow gotten into his mouth, and look around. He was sitting in the middle of a charred circle of ground. All around him was green, verdant grass. In the distance he could see a tree line, which was too far away to really make out any details. Closer to him was a giant castle, complete with several soaring towers. A large lake lay off to his left, the waters a strange black color.

He slowly stood up, noticing the absence of his swords at his hip. Looking around, he saw several other charred circles off in the distance. He slowly started towards them, still looking around as he did so.

_It's night, _he realized with a sudden jolt. Strange that he could have gotten used to the general sameness of light on Kuraigana at all times of the day so quickly.

When he reached the circles, he saw his three katana, each in a circle of their own. He picked them up and slid them through his haramaki, suddenly getting a sense that they were glad to be back with him. He frowned, tried to broadcast that he was too, probably failed miserably, and saw a few more circles farther on.

He walked towards them, feeling reassured by the comforting weight on his hip. When he got close enough, he saw that one contained Mihawk. The Shichibukai was lying on the ground, unconscious like Zoro had been. His left hand clasped Yoru's hilt, although he was clearly not awake. To his left was another circle; when Zoro got there he saw an unfamiliar, slim katana and Mihawk's cross-dagger leaning against each other.

Zoro headed back towards Mihawk, knelt down, and cautiously poked the Shichibukai's shoulder. He figured that he might as well wake the other man; perhaps the older swordsman would have a better idea of what this place was than Zoro did.

Mihawk did not respond, so Zoro poked him again, harder. When that didn't work, he tried shaking the other man, but the Shichibukai stayed dead to the world. Zoro frowned, wondering if attempting to attack Mihawk would work (that always woke _him _up), when he heard voices on the wind.

Zoro looked up, automatically resting one arm on his swords. It was surprising how many times that had stopped people from attacking him.

There were three people walking towards him, a man and two women. They walked with the easiness of someone who knew where they were, and all appeared to have a very definite purpose. None of them had noticed that Zoro was there yet, although they were definitely heading towards him and Mihawk.

The man was quite old, as evidenced by his long white beard and matching hair. He wore deep blue robes which somehow didn't seem to get in the way of his walking at all. A pointy hat perched on his head, also blue, and decorated with white stars and moons. His eyes were a friendly-looking blue, although there was a certain hardness to them that reminded Zoro of Robin, surprisingly enough. Curious half-moon spectacles perched on his nose in such a way that they looked as if they were going to fall off any minute. He was not holding any sort of weapon, and in fact did not look as if he could fight at all, but there was something to the way he carried himself that warned Zoro that this person was much stronger than he appeared.

The younger of the two women also wore robes, although hers were a dark green. Her hair was a light gray, although most of it was wrapped up with a white cloth. She looked irritated, probably something to do with being woken up in the middle of the night—Zoro could sympathize. Somehow he knew she was a doctor, even though there was nothing external about her that could possibly tell him that. It was something to do with the way she walked and talked.

The older was wearing plain, serviceable black robes and no hat. She had a stern face framed by wiry gray hair. She wasn't particularly tall, but she had an aura that made it seem like she was. Her gait was tightly controlled, and Zoro got the impression that she was someone who preferred order over chaos. She was the first to notice Zoro standing there, and nudged the others.

"Oh, my," the old man said, close enough now that Zoro could hear him. "I thought you said that he would be unconscious from the ritual?"

"He should be," the younger woman agreed. "That he is not means that he has a larger magical reserve than we thought."

"Welcome back to Hogwarts, Harry," the old man said, apparently coming to a decision.

Zoro blinked. "What?"

"I said, welcome back to Hogwarts, Harry. I must apologize for summoning you, but really we had no choice-"

"What is Hogwarts? Why are you calling me Harry? I hope this isn't like what happened to dart-brow." Zoro interrupted, remembering the time when someone else had been mistaken for Sanji because of how he looked. _It could be something similar, I suppose. Although since I have my own bounty, it seems rather unlikely._

"You aren't Harry?" The old man looked confused and his voice sounded somewhat lost.

"Obviously not," the older woman said. "If he were Harry, then he would know what Hogwarts is. Who are you, then?"  
"It's polite to introduce yourself first," Zoro responded cautiously.

"Ah, very true. I am Professor McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress and the Professor of Transfiguration here at Hogwarts. This is the school nurse, Poppy Pomfrey," here she gestured to the younger woman, "and the Headmaster of this school, Albus Dumbledore. Now, may I ask again, who are you?"

_May as well give them my title as well, if they feel like showing off. _"My name is the Pirate Hunter, Roronoa Zoro."

"I, uh, see," Dumbledore said, finally recovering his wits. "You wouldn't happen to know who Harry is, would you?"

"I have no idea," Zoro responded frankly. "I suppose Hawk-Eyes might, though."

"Hawk-Eyes?" Poppy Pomfrey asked, finally speaking up.

"Him," Zoro said, gesturing behind him. The nurse peered around him and blinked in surprise at seeing the Shichibukai lying on his back, unconscious.

"It appears the ritual worked after all," Professor McGonagall said. "We may as well get him back to the castle. I apologize for dragging you into this." She pulled out a long, wooden stick and was about to wave it when Zoro stepped in front of Mihawk, his eyes narrowing.

"Why should I trust you?" he asked quietly. He didn't particularly _like _the Shichibukai, but, well, the other man was unconscious, and he _had _agreed to teach Zoro, so... he may as well step in.

"We mean your friend no harm," Dumbledore said.

"He's not my friend, and that doesn't answer my question," Zoro responded automatically, starting to reach for his swords.

"There's no need for that," Professor McGonagall said quickly.

"Believe me, we have no intention of hurting him," Dumbledore repeated himself. "We have summoned him here, and apparently you as well, to help us."

"Hawk-Eyes. _Help _you." Zoro said with flat disbelief. "The same man who slaughtered Don Krieg's fleet because he was _bored. _What the hell makes you think that he's going to want to _help _you?"

"He what?" Poppy said. "Harry wouldn't do that!"

"Yeah. Right. What Hawk-Eyes wouldn't do is randomly decide to help some strangers who managed to summon him here because of some weather occurrence of the Grand Line!"

"I can speak for myself, thank you," a voice said with a touch of sarcasm from behind Zoro. The swordsman spun around to see Mihawk up and moving, although the Shichibukai somehow looked more haggard and tired than usual. Zoro wasn't quite sure how he managed to figure this out, as there was nothing about the Shichibukai's appearance that would make him logically draw that conclusion.

"Harry, my dear boy!" Dumbledore said happily.

Mihawk gave him a flat look, then said, "I would thank you if you did not call me that. I have not been a boy for many years."

"You're still younger than me," Dumbledore pointed out. "So, will you help us?"

"Do you mean that you wish for my assistance with killing Voldemort?" The two women flinched as one when Mihawk spoke the last word.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, you see, I didn't want to call you back, but the war has gotten to the point where there was no choice."

"How did you summon me?" Mihawk asked, ignoring Dumbledore's earlier question.

Dumbledore blinked. "Well, I just took one of your old robes as the focus, and then collected the energy. It was a simple matter, really."

"I see," Mihawk said. His eyes narrowed in thought for a moment, then he said, "Very well. Where is he?"

"We don't know," Poppy said.

Mihawk seemed to sigh, then asked, "Do you know the general area?"

"No." Professor McGonagall this time.

"Great," Mihawk said sarcastically. He muttered something under his breath that sounded oddly like, "One month... damn it!"

The five people stood in awkward silence for a moment before Mihawk broke it by toppling forwards and landing face-down in the grass.

Another moment of silence ensued as the remaining standing people stared at the prone Shichibukai. Then Madam Pomfrey raised her wand, Zoro stepped in front of Mihawk again, and the argument resumed.

"I'm only going to move him to the hospital wing!"

"How do I know that?"

"My dear boy, we really don't wish to hurt him."

"Once again, how do I know that?"

"Because we're on the side of the Light!"

"The Light? Is that a religious organization? Whatever. That still doesn't answer my question."

"You're all being idiots!"

"Minerva, now is really not the time."

"Yes it is! If you aren't going to listen to what he's worried about instead of just giving him empty reassurances, then we're never going to get anywhere!" The Transfiguration professor stepped forwards, then began more calmly, "How about this? Poppy can heal him here-"

"No I can't! Not without the proper materials!" the nurse protested.

"Then you can get them," Professor McGonagall rebutted before continuing, "and that way you can watch the process. If we show any signs of hurting him, then you can stop us. Fair enough?"

Zoro watched her with narrowed eyes. "You're users," he said after a moment, "Or something like users. If you use your power to poison him, then I wouldn't be able to stop you. Not that I care, of course." He added the last hastily.

Zoro could have sworn that he heard rapid bell-like tones, but there were no bells around. _I must be imagining it, _he decided.

"I won't," Madam Pomfrey said, looking affronted. "I'm a healer, not an assassin! I _help _people. Witch's oath."

"And what is your "Witch's oath" good for?"

The two glared at each other for a moment before Dumbledore intervened, saying, "We seem to be at an impasse." He sighed. "Very well, then, you move him. I will lead you to your temporary quarters, and when he awakens he can decide if he needs healing or not."

"Why would he need healing?" Zoro said, suddenly realizing that the conversation had taken a different turn than he had expected.

"When I said 'heal', I suppose the proper term is to do a check-up," Madam Pomfrey said, looking somewhat miffed. "The ritual sapped a lot of his energy, and that sort of thing can have a negative effect on the body. I merely wish to make sure that there is no lasting damage. In any case, I suppose such a check-up can wait, if you insist."

"Fine, then. I agree to your suggestion, I suppose," Zoro said, finally deciding. He grimaced for a moment before reaching down and slinging Mihawk over his shoulder. The Shichibukai was lighter than he expected, so it wasn't too hard. Zoro grabbed the swords, too. There was no need to pick up Yoru, however. Despite Mihawk being unconscious again, he still held onto his sword with a death grip.

Once he was so encumbered, he headed off in the direction of the forest.

"The castle's the other way!" Professor McGonagall yelled after him.

Zoro turned around, blinked, and then started heading towards the castle. "Must have moved," he muttered under his breath.


	3. Ghosts

_**Mihawk**_

The Shichibukai slowly blinked awake and looked around at his was in a small, but functional room, with a desk in one corner, a bed, and an empty bookshelf. The walls were painted white, and the bedsheets were the same pristine color as the walls.

"What happened?" Mihawk muttered, rubbing his head. He had a throbbing headache for some reason. _I remember some sort of invisible bomb exploding, and then nothing... except... something that happened? No, he would never do that... must have been a dream. In any case, how could I possibly have gotten here? Unless the Grand Line decided to make things difficult for me once more, but then she is rarely so nice when she decides to have fun with her children._

_Well, there was a ritual, and then things happened, you showed up, and then you woke up briefly, then you fell unconscious again, and then Zoro was all chivalrous and wouldn't let them "do a check-up" on you, and then he carried you back to the castle. _Yoru's voice sounded something like deep bells ringing in the Shichibukai's skull.

_ Thank you for your stellar explanation, _Mihawk thought at his sword, while trying to figure out what exactly she had been saying.

_You're welcome! _Trying to be sarcastic with Yoru had about all the effect of being sarcastic with a brick. She just didn't understand, and had stopped trying to after the first decade or so of being sentient. Which had been a _very _long time ago, given that she had had a mind for at least a thousand years... probably quite a bit longer, but she had never been inclined to share her past with him. Mihawk had the feeling that her early years had been somewhat painful for her.

Mihawk paused, remembering something in particular that Yoru had said. _Wait. Roronoa carried me back?_

_ That's what I said, _Yoru chirped.

_I wasn't asking you, _Mihawk replied absently.

_D'aw... so mean... _Yoru pouted.

_Shut. Up._

_ Well, fine then. _Mihawk ignored the irritation in Yoru's tone, and continued thinking to himself.

_Why... why would Roronoa carry me back? What possible motivation would he have for doing so? He certainly has not known me long enough to form any sort of attachment... so perhaps he felt some loyalty to me. But _why? _It doesn't make any sense!_

Mihawk shook his head, and decided that he would dwell on that later, perhaps be blunt and ask the younger swordsman what he had been thinking. For now, though, it did not matter. What did matter was figuring out where he was, and whether the other inhabitants of this strange place were hostile.

The Shichibukai sighed softly, looking around at his surroundings, this time with his Haki instead of his eyes. He felt a labyrinthine network of corridors and staircases. _Strange... I don't think I've ever been able to feel stone with my Haki before... except, this place is not exactly made out of stone, is it? _A creeping suspicion started to grow in his mind as he thought about where he was. He dismissed it for the moment, "looking" around him once more.

He sensed a number of minds moving throughout these corridors, a mix of children and adults. _A school, then. But that does not explain how I got here... What does Yoru mean by a 'ritual'?Asking her will be no help, she does not see the world as humans do and never has..._

Mihawk paused as he felt a familiar mind, a fair bit closer, across the corridor he clearly "saw" outside his room. _Roronoa. What is he doing here? _He paused. _He didn't get out of the radius? No... I remember him being there when I woke up briefly. I suppose that wasn't a dream after all. Then this means that I am back at Hogwarts... back where it all began. _It was an odd thought, for more than one reason.

There were a few other minds that were passingly familiar, as though Mihawk had felt them before. None of them jumped out at him, though, so the Shichibukai dismissed it. _They probably bear some passing resemblance to counterparts in the world of the Grand Line. Certainly I could not know the feel of any minds here, not when I have never felt them with my Haki before. _

Mihawk decided that he would never figure out where he was if he lied around in bed all day, so he stood up. That small action made his head spin, and for a moment he felt as if he had to vomit. Then the feeling passed, and only the headache remained. _I feel oddly... weak. My legs are as if they have weights attached to them, and it seems that any movement makes me feel dizzy. Have I come down with some illness? I have never been this sick before..._

Well, actually, now that he thought about it, there was that one time when he was a boy, when a poisonous fang had become lodged in his arm... but that had been a different life, a different person. _Once I was that person, but no longer. I became different at some point... although when is uncertain. I really do have to stop thinking about this. It is not worth it to dwell on the past, lest those ghosts rise up and consume me._

_ The past is important, too... _Yoru spoke up. Her voice sounded almost... sad, and Mihawk was reminded once more of the fact that Yoru had never told him where she was forged, or anything really about her origins.

_Perhaps. But only as a lesson. Worrying about it is pointless. _

_ Maybe, _Yoru replied, but she didn't sound convinced.

Mihawk walked towards the door, ignoring the pulsing pain in his head. He paused to rest for a moment against the doorframe, before reaching for the handle.

_ One moment, _Yoru told him suddenly. _I feel another sword in this place, different than Roronoa's. _Her presence receded briefly, and then she was back, bell-like tones ringing in his head. _The other says he is called Ixilor. He belonged to this guy named Godric Gryffindor centuries ago, and has been hanging out in this school's leader's magical hat since. I'm not quite sure about the hat part, but that's what he said. Apparently this place is named Hogwarts, and it's some kind of magic school. I'm not sure if he's referring to Devil Fruits or—Wielder? Hey, Wielder, are you okay? Why aren't you answering?  
_The Shichibukai stared at the wall in front of him, his eyes blank. Rapid images flashed through his mind as he remembered his life at the school.

_ The burning bird appeared in front of him, screeching. His flames were brighter than the sun, it seemed to Harry, and in the library it had to be a great risk._

Mihawk shuddered slightly, remembering the scorching fire that had burned through his mind, uncovering blocks on his memories, memories that even now he was unsure were entirely real.

_ The doorbell rang. "Get the door, boy," Uncle Vernon bellowed. Harry had rushed to obey, knowing that if he didn't a punch to the ear was sure to follow. When he opened it, he saw a smiling, bearded man._

_ "Hello. I would like to speak to your aunt and uncle, my boy." Harry nodded, thinking that this man was one of his Uncle's business associates. It was bad enough that the older man had seen him, he knew. He wasn't supposed to be seen..._

_Pain thumped through his head, making it impossible to think for a long moment before everything resolved into a crystal clarity. Harry knew what he had to do; he headed to the library and slipped into the Forbidden Section. He found the book he needed as if he were drawn to it, opened it to a page. As he stared at the brown ink (hopefully ink and not something else like blood) he decided in that moment what he had to do. But he could not do it now, he had to prepare himself first..._

_Wielder? Wielder! _

Yoru's voice penetrated the fog of memories, and Mihawk pulled himself together with a visible shudder. _It's nothing, _he told Yoru. _Only ghosts of memories._

In his private thoughts, he added to himself that it was odd that Yoru's voice should invoke those memories when his own, passive realization of where he was didn't. Perhaps there was something familiar about her tone that had been matched by an experience in this world at some point? _I suppose that's possible, but it's hardly likely. It doesn't matter very much now, anyway. _

_ If you say so... _Yoru replied. _You know I won't invade your private thoughts, but if you ever want to talk..._

_ I know, _Mihawk replied simply. He felt a wave of warmth from his blade and he smiled slightly. _How would I have survived without you?  
Not very well, going by the stupidity you displayed in challenging Rayleigh. If _I _were there, I would never have let you do such a stupid thing. _

_It turned out well, though, didn't it? If I hadn't done that then it's likely that I would never have learned Haki, or at least not until a much later date._

_It was still a very stupid thing to do._

_I'm not arguing with you there. _

Mihawk chuckled quietly to himself as he reached out to grasp the door handle. _This is an unexpected occurrence... but, well, I may as well make the best of it. No matter what I do, I will have her, and Koga as well. I may as well go and find Dumbledore... I'm sure he will be ecstatic to talk to me when I am not half dead from exhaustion. _The thought was outlined with a trace of bitterness, although Mihawk knew and recognized that Dumbledore really had no choice in the matter in bringing him back.

_I have changed, as well. Killing Voldemort should not be too hard... a black flier can kill anything... but facing the people I once knew... that may provide a bigger challenge. _

Mihawk paused outside the door to the room where Roronoa awaited. _If what Yoru says is in fact the case, and he did carry me back... not to mention that I seem to remember him _defending _me, then this is going to be an... odd... conversation. Not to mention with how he managed to find the chamber beneath my mansion._

Mihawk sighed, and decided that he may as well get it over with before entering the room. He glanced around quickly, golden eyes searching for anything that could possibly be used in a fight, rapidly evaluating anything and everything for a possible threat, before setting on the room's occupant.

Roronoa still didn't notice him. He was sitting by the side of the bed, apparently meditating. Mihawk was about to consider something along the lines of coughing when Roronoa looked up. The younger swordsman jumped slightly, clearly startled.

"We need to talk," Mihawk said quietly, making sure not to inject any sort of emotion into his voice or face.

"Um, we do?" Roronoa asked awkwardly.

"Is that not what I just said?" Mihawk responded, suppressing a smirk. It was good to know that he hadn't lost his... skill... with terrifying young swordsmen.

"In any case," Mihawk continued, "why did you do it?"

"Why did I do what?" Roronoa responded quickly. Too quickly. Mihawk could almost see the thoughts flashing across his face.

"Why did you attempt to defend me?" Mihawk asked simply.

"Well, I couldn't exactly let them kill you while you were unconscious, could I?" Zoro retorted.

"That is not the entire reason," Mihawk replied, just to see how Roronoa would react. He noted his wild guess was correct when he saw the other man flinch slightly. _It always works, _he reflected.

"That aside, there is... something else that we need to talk about." Mihawk paused, frowned slightly, and then continued. "How much do you know about our present location?"

"Dum-whatsit said something about this being a school for magic users," Roronoa said after a moment, frowning slightly in concentration. "Mentioned that there was some guy who was abusing his powers and trying to kill everyone."

"So not very much, then," Mihawk said, moving further into the room and settling himself onto the bed. _Damn, it feels good to sit. _

The Shichibukai paused, gathering his thoughts before continuing. "This place is called Hogwarts, and it is indeed where young magic users are trained. However, that is not entirely important... what is the so-called "Dark Lord", also known as Voldemort. He claims to have found a way to be immortal, and has already come back from death at least once... maybe more. Along the way, he has declared war on the "impure" sections of the Wizarding community, namely those whose families are not wizards."

He stopped for a moment, trying to figure out how much he should say. Finally, he decided on the bare bones of the matter. "There was a prophecy surrounding my birth, saying that the only one who can finally kill him is me. For a number of... complicated reasons, I left this place when I was in my fifth year, and ended up in Kaisea, where we met. Unable to find a way back, I eventually became a pirate, and then later, a Shichibukai. I believe that the only reason that Dumbledore would have called me back if his side were losing this little conflict."

"He wants you to resolve it for him," Roronoa said quietly.

"It is not quite that simple, but ultimately, yes," Mihawk replied. He watched, feeling a touch of amusement as the younger swordsman shrugged off the new information and seemed to classify it as not being important.

"Well, whatever. There any food in this place?"  
Mihawk almost laughed at the change in subject, then quickly clamped down on his emotions. It wouldn't do to let Roronoa be the one to break his facade that he had showed the world ever since _that _happened. "There is a place called the kitchen, yes."

"Wonderful," the young pirate said. "Where is it?"  
"Follow me," Mihawk said simply before managing to make himself get up and head down through the confusing corridors of Hogwarts.

Less than half an hour later, he left Roronoa in the kitchens and headed towards the Great Hall. The young pirate couldn't get into any trouble in there. He hoped.

_I have to talk to Dumbledore, _Mihawk thought as he walked. _Most of the minds in the castle are gathered in the Great Hall, so it follows that Dumbledore is also there. _

Mihawk nodded to himself firmly and strode off down the corridor, heading to the Great Hall, encountering one of Hogwarts' famous moving staircases. It was wood and was slowly rotating around to several different corridors that opened onto a kind of pit. The staircase led down, so once it came around to Mihawk's corridor, he stepped on it and began to descend. The Shichibukai ignored the moving part of it, although it made his head throb more, and before long reached the ground.

_That way, _he thought, setting off through another corridor. He almost bumped into a first year, in Hufflepuff colors. The boy stared at Mihawk, eyes wide, before the Shichibukai gave him a half-hearted glare. Then the student let out a terrified squeak and ran off.

_ Am I really that scary? Huh. It's been a while since I last got the opportunity to do that... Roronoa doesn't count. He knows who I am. _The swordsman watched the Hufflepuff go for a moment before continuing down the corridor towards the Great Hall.

Before long, he came go a large pair of double doors that were half open. The sounds of food being eaten, complete with chatter, the clinking of knives and forks, and chewing emanated from it.

Mihawk took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, made sure that his face was as emotionless as usual, and strode into the hall. Almost instantly, all sound in the Great Hall ceased as students' eyes immediately fixed onto the newcomer. Within moments, they started talking again, except it was whispering. Mihawk's eyes flicked over the crowd of faces, not finding anyone familiar. _There are fewer students than there were when I was here, I think. In any case, it is not them who I have come for._

His eyes found the long table directly in front of him. There, he saw familiar faces. _Hermione, Neville, Madam Pomfrey, Dumbledore, Snape... what is he doing here? The old fool probably still thinks he's on the side of the light. It's obvious to anyone with half a brain that Snape is on no one's side but his own._

Dumbledore was the first to speak, rising from his chair. Contrary to what Mihawk had expected, the old man's eyes weren't twinkling at all. There was a few seconds of expectant silence, although it seemed much longer, before the Headmaster finally spoke.

"Welcome back to Hogwarts, Harry. We have much to discuss."

_**All reviews are welcome!**_


	4. Adventures

_**Note: All directions given in this chapter are from Zoro's point of view and are not necessarily accurate. For example, the first occurrence of this, when Zoro goes "east", he is actually going left.**_

Zoro opened his eyes to the scenery of the Hogwarts kitchen. He looked around, rubbing his head, trying to figure out what had happened. Ah, yes, he had fallen asleep after eating. He frowned, then asked one of the nearby cooks, "How long was I asleep?"  
The creature squeaked in fright. The large, luminous eyes opened further. "You were asleep for... exactly one hour, ten minutes, and 43 seconds, Mister Pirate Hunter Sir!"

Zoro blinked, surprised both by the use of his epithet and the house elf's very... _exact... _report. "Thanks, then," he said, stifling a yawn.

Zoro looked around the kitchen. Elves, food, chairs, table, counter, more elves, floor, ceiling, food, more elves, where was that door? Oh, over there. To anyone else, the brightly painted orange exit would have been quite obvious. However, Zoro only thought that it had been trying to hide from him.

Luckily it did not try to hide from him again. Luckily for _it, _that was. After walking through and closing the door behind him, he found himself in the middle of a stone passageway which stretched out to east and west. When he glanced behind him, there was a portrait of fruit on the wall that he didn't remember being there. He frowned at the bright painting for a long moment. _Whatever. It's a magical castle._

_ Oh, right. Wait. Where am I going again? Hmm... _

Bells chimed somewhere in the castle, their bright sound fast and urgent. Zoro barely heard him, instead focusing on where he was going.

_It doesn't really matter, _he finally decided. _Even if I do decide on a place to go, it'll just move, so I'll leave it up to fate and get their faster than I originally would. _

Satisfied with his logic, he nodded to himself and headed east.

A few minutes later, he stopped to look out a window, the first one that he had seen since leaving the kitchen. The grounds looked small and far away, the Black Lake shimmering gently under the night stars. _Wait. Night? Hasn't it been long enough to be day? We _did _arrive in the middle of the night didn't we? Maybe it was only the beginning of the night. _

_ How did I get up so high anyway? I think this is higher than the rooms were and Hawk-Eyes took me downstairs. Eh. Probably just moved. It's the only explanation that makes sense. _

Once again, he heard bells, but this time they were a darker, rich tone, sightly slower than the high-pitched ones. _What is with this castle and bells? It's only been a few minutes! _

Zoro yawned and decided to forget about it. _Now, how to get to... wherever I'm going? _He headed back west.

A few corridors later, he came to an open section, like an immense pit. He could see walls stretching up higher above him and lower beneath him. Staircases slowly swung around to each corridor that opened into the giant pit. Zoro got on the first one that came over to his side, barely managing to get a firm grip on the handrail before it moved again.

Although it didn't seem like it from just watching it, the wooden contraption moved astonishingly fast. _I want to go down, so I'd better just head along this staircase since it leads down. I think. _

He started to walk along the staircase, holding onto the guardrail tightly. He didn't fear falling, exactly, but it looked as though if he _did _fall then there wouldn't be any easy way out for him. The ground, far below, was just stone surrounded by smooth wall. The first corridor wasn't until twenty feet or so off the ground. Somehow, the swordsman did not find climbing up that high to be a welcome prospect. Not that he couldn't do it, of course, just that it would be difficult.

After reaching the other side, he headed straight down the corridor that was behind it.

Maybe an hour later, Zoro had been walking for a while and _still _hadn't encountered anyone. _Maybe I'm in an abandoned part of the castle? _He wondered, which led him to think about how big the castle was anyway.

Then, after leaning against a wall briefly to rest, the stone gave way behind him with an ominous creaking sound. A second later he was sliding through a dark passageway.

He cannonballed out into open air above the Black Lake. He only had time for one startled shout before he plunged into the dark waters, the freezing cold a sudden shock. When he resurfaced, coughing, he glanced up at where he'd come from.

The stone wall of the castle was simply bricks, chiseled together without any sort of cement. There was no sign that there had ever been a passageway, nor that there ever would be again.

Zoro was distracted from this as something brushed against his leg. He ducked his head under the water to see _something _looking back up at him. He wasn't sure exactly what it was. Maybe a fishman-mermaid? It had the mermaid tail, but fishman features on the rest of its body, and it was clearly not female (at least by regular standards).

They stared at each other for a moment, and then the creature let out a soft, gentle sound, like wordless singing.

Zoro frowned at it. Was it trying to communicate? He certainly had no way to communicate back, so it didn't really matter. It didn't look that dangerous, either, so he didn't have to worry about an attack. _The best thing to do will be get out of this water. _

It didn't occur to him how he would handle being dripping wet in the middle of winter.

Zoro moved his head back above water before beginning to swim towards the closest shore. He noted several benches along the shoreline and instantly tried to figure out how suited they were for sleeping. Unconsciously, he decided that he would take the bright red one if he ever decided to sleep on a bench.

He reached the side of the lake uneventfully, blissfully unaware that the mermen had been in the middle of organizing an attack squad. Disappointed, the denizens of the Black Lake slowly dispersed, muttering to themselves.

Zoro looked around at the green fields of the Hogwarts grounds. He saw, surprisingly far away, the start of the tree line, which he supposed was the Forbidden Forest. Behind him was, of course, Hogwarts in all its glory. To his left, he saw an odd arrangement of poles with hoops on the top of them,and, beyond those, what looked like they might be greenhouses.

Zoro headed towards the greenhouses and, somehow, a couple of minutes later, ended up amidst the dark trees. He stopped walking for a moment, staying absolutely still. The forest around him was still as well, without even bird calls or other normal, forest sounds. Even the leaves didn't rustle!

_Well, certainly seems forbidden, _Zoro thought to himself as he continued deeper into the black woods. It never occurred to him to think about how he had gotten into the forest, or how he would get out of it.

The deeper he went, the darker it seemed to get, as though the sun was losing its power to penetrate the dense tree leaves. Zoro hadn't seen any patches of sunlight for some time now, and it seemed to be getting colder as well.

Unnoticed, a white mist slowly rose from the ground behind him, It coiled this way and that, almost lazily as if looking for prey. It paused for a moment, having sense the young sowrdsman now moving away from it.

"Help!" someone shouted from behind Zoro.

The pirate turned back around. He noted tha this footsteps seemed deadened, hardly producing any sound at all. _How strange. _

Zoro saw a young woman leaning against a tree, her green eys wide with fear. She had short black hair and for some reason that Zoro could not discern (as it was getting chillier by the moment) had left the two top buttons of her blouse open, showing some of her chest.

"Please, sir," she said, "help me. I think I sprained my leg and I can't walk."

Zoro intuivly noticed that something was wrong with this situation. _I'm not sure what it is... She certainly could have sprained her ankle, and her asking for help isn't all that unlikely either._

The swordsman shrugged and asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"Just... help me back to the castle?" she asked plaintively. She shifted, seeming to try and jut her chest out as much as possible.

_Why is she doing that? That looks like it hurts. _

"Sure, come on," Zoro said, yawning as he easily helped the girl to her feet and then headed off towards the castle with her leaning on his arm.

Somehow, instead of the forest getting lighter as they presumably traveled away from the heart of it, it got even darker and gloomier (although not quite up to Kuraigana standards yet).

After some time traveling, Zoro turned to look at her and remarked, "You aren't limping."

The girl blinked, looked down, and realized that she had in fact been walking on her own for quite some time now. "Shit," she cursed. "It's easier if I do it that way, but I suppose this one will work as well."

"What...?" Zoro asked as the girl's form dissipated into white mist. Within moments, the chilling fog surrounded him and Zoro found that it was getting more and more difficult to breathe. His chest felt as though it were being compressed by iron bands and his eyes started to swim with black spots.

Zoro gritted his teeth and drew Ichimonji, slashing out wildly at the fog. It didn't help; wherever the blade cut the fog just came back together again.

He managed to also draw Sandai, and resumed slashing at the fog, with two swords this time. This time, wherever the white mist was cut, it took a little bit longer to reform. The pressure on Zoro's chest lifted somewhat, and he was able to raw into a tiny, gasping breath.

Using the little leeway that he had gained, Zoro managed to get his third sword from his haramaki into his mouth. _Santoryu! Tatsumaki! _He thought in his head, not foolish enough to waste what little air he managed to get into his lungs with yelling.

He spun, faster than the eye could follow, and released a cyclone-shaped whirling mass of blue. It tore great swaths through the mist and the remaining white substance slowly dissipated.

Zoro leaned against a tree trunk, trying to get breath back into his lungs as he sheathed his swords. _That... was unsettlingly close, _he thought. _If I had spent a moment more trying to cut at the fog with one sword... _

Zoro shook his head, dispelling such gloomy thoughts. _But I didn't. That's what matters. I didn't, and I got out of it alive. Just another day on the Grand Line... _

After he had rested for a few minutes, Zoro sighed and headed back off into the forest, determined to find his way towards the castle.

A little later, the forest seemed to be getting somewhat lighter. Taking that as an indication that he was perhaps, at long last, headed towards the castle, he broke into a run. He quickly approached the treeline and broke out into sunlight.

There was no castle in sight, only endless fields of green. _I'm at the other end of the Forest, _he realized in disbelief. _There's no other place I could be. _

Zoro scowled. Had he gotten turned around? He let out a somewhat weary sigh and headed back into the dark trees.

This time, the amount of available light disappeared very quickly and soon he was in a section that was almost pitch-black. It was nearly impossible to see, although he could still make out the dim outlines of the trees surrounding him. It was, at least, not so quiet here. He could hear the leaves rustling gently in a breeze and the small sounds of animals moving through the undergrowth.

The leaves rustled behind him, and it sounded as though this was an animal a lot larger than the ones he had been hearing, Zoro spun around, straining his eyes to see anything in the murky gloom. There was nothing. All he was looking at was a bush, a rather oddly-shaped bush, but still just a bush.

The bush shifted, and then leaped straight at Zoro's face.

The swordsman unsheathed all three blades out of reflex and raised them in front of himself protectively.

The... whatever it was... impaled itself, and although Zoro wasn't certain, he was fairly sure that his clothes had just gotten spattered with the creature's blood. _Great. Bloodstains take forever to clean._

Carefully, very carefully, Zoro shifted position, letting the giant thing slide neatly off his blades and land on the ground with an audible thump. He looked at the creature for a long moment, trying to figure out what it was, but it was impossible in the darkness.

He looked up, and found that around the dark shapes of the trees, multiple sets of eyes had appeared. Each set had exactly eight piercing orbs just _staring _at him.

Zoro spun around and saw that he was surrounded by whatever the eyes belonged to. _If it's only more of whatever those were, _he thought, _then this battle should be easy. _

A sticky net fell from above him and enveloped him. Zoro cried out loud in shock, staggering. The threads that made up the net were quite thick, each one perhaps twice the size of his finger. It was quite heavy as well.

Zoro gripped one of the threads with his hand in an attempt to rip the net off of him and found that the net was quite stuck to both his hand and his face. Luckily, his other hand remained free. He slashed at all of the nearby threads, cutting a portion of it off of him. Little bits of whatever the substance was still clung to Sandai.

_That will be fun to clean off later._

Zoro was in the process of trying to get the rest of the net off of him when the first creature crashed into him. The swordsman was completely knocked over, unprepared as he was for the attack. He cried out, and then managed to roll himself to the side as it tried to bite his neck.

He slashed upwards with Sandai and cut up through the creature's belly. Blood very nearly gushed out onto his chest and stomach.

Zoro shoved the thing off his chest and very nearly regained his feet before the next one slammed into him. This one had another net prepared, and Zoro found that he was being wrapped up in sheets of the sticky stuff.

He managed to rip his right arm away from the threads, pulling it closer to his body, and slashed at the threads piling up on top of him. His swords parted the thread easily and he cut the sticky stuff into pieces.

The creature above him was still, and Zoro realized that he had probably killed it while he was freeing himself of the net's constrictive embrace. He rolled out from under it and stood up. The next one wasn't quite so fast, and Zoro managed to kill it before it could reach him.

Then the rest of the creatures charged, as if they had to let a few of them try to kill him alone first before the rest of them could. Zoro was in the middle of a rapidly constricting ring, if the eyes were any indication.

He turned and charged towards the section where there were the fewest eyes, sending a couple of flying attacks ahead of him. The creatures chittered as they died, leaving large corpses that Zoro had to be careful to avoid. In a few moments, however, he was free of the ring and running off through the forest. He did send a few fliers back behind him, the blue blades cutting through spider and tree alike.

Finally, when it seemed that his pursuers had given up the chase, Zoro stopped to rest momentarily. He heard something in the tree that he was leaning against and looked up. His eyes widened slightly. _What? Wait, what? That's... what? What the hell could have happened?_

Mihawk was lying on a tree branch high above him. Unconscious.


End file.
